A rare hummingbird that had been sustained well into winter by the sugar water in a feeder at a Harwich home, has died.

Dr. Tom French, MassWildlife assistant director for natural heritage and endangered species, said the Allen's hummingbird, a type that has only been seen in Massachusetts three times, died Jan. 19.

Christine Omar thought the day might come when the tiny hummingbird, which had been visiting the feeder outside her sunroom since October, just wouldn't show.

On Jan. 10, she assumed the worst when the bird didn't appear for three hours in the morning. It had come to the feeder every day, every few minutes, sunup to sundown, for months, sometimes through horrendous winter storms.

"I thought it had died. It was a really cold morning," Omar said yesterday.

Then, it suddenly materialized, sipping sugar water from the plastic red bell of one of the fake flowers on the feeder.

Just as suddenly, one of its wings got some sugar water on it, froze, and the bird dropped from the feeder onto the wood deck.

Watch a recent video report on the rare Cape hummingbird

It was taken to Wild Care in Eastham, where clinic director Lela Larned and her staff tried to bring it back to health. But their best efforts were not enough.

"There was nothing done wrong here. These birds are hard to keep alive in captivity," French said. All three of the Allen's hummingbirds that have been seen in the state died in New England winter weather.

However, some populations of the birds are tough enough for milder winters.

Although the Southern California population of Allen's hummingbirds doesn't migrate at all, other groups leave Baja, Mexico, in February to spend the summer in Oregon.

"They are pretty winter-hardy birds," French said. Each year, more seem to come to the East Coast, particularly to southeastern states such as Georgia and Florida.

These wayward souls are not lost, said French. Possibly, they are trying out a different locale, part of Nature's way of ensuring the continuation of the species if their preferred destination becomes inhospitable.

Capturing a hummingbird and transporting it to a more hospitable climate is not the best course, he said. The birds learn their migration route by flying it, and would be confused as to how to get back to California. Instead, it's best to feed them enough to increase body fat, then release them to fly back on their own.

And, French recommended taking hummingbird feeders down in October to encourage them to move on.